Method of and apparatus for manufacturing alcohol from garbage.



F. E. YOUNG.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ALCOHDL FROM GARBAGE. APPLICATION FILED AUG-9.15MB- 1 ,2 1 0,250 Patented Dec. 26, 1916.

2 SHEET$SHEET l.

F. E. YOUNG. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ALCOHOL FROM GARBAG Patented Dec. 26, 1916.

APPLICATION FILED AUGLQ, I915- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

manner.

the steam from the cooking tank is mechan1- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

mam; E. YOUNG, or CANTON, OHIO.

METHOD or AND lirrannros r03 MANUFACTURING ALCOHOL mom cAnnAoE.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1916- Application filed Au gust 9, 1915. Serial No. 44,467.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK E. Youxo, a. citizen of the United Statesfresiding at (lanton. in the county of Stark and Steteoi ()hio. have invented a certain new and useful Method of and l-\pparalus for Mann-- rally separated therefrom, the steam passing on to the still and the alcohols carried there?- by condensed; and the free greascin t-lie garbage wateiq mixiug'with a current of cool air circulating thercthriuigh, forms a foam which is separated therefrom before the garbage water is'i ermented. After the garbage water has been pressed from the garbage. the tankagre is dried and separated, the cellulose of the vegetable matter being converted into glucose, and the glucose fermented and distilled with the garbage water; the animal portion of'the tankage. is mixed with the evaporated spent wash from the still, for uselas feed or fertilizer; and the mineral matter separated from the tankage is practically ivaste. l

In. the accompanying drawings '1 have illustrated a preferred form of apparatus,

' by means of which my invention may be ea1-,

ricjd out, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a cooking tank.-

a cooling tank, a preheating tanlga ferment-- mg apparatus, and the vaporizing column of a stil connected together, thecooling tank and the preheating tank being shown in section; Fig. 2, is a sectionalvicw showing a modified" form of construction for the coolmg and preheating tanks; and .Fig. 3 ism sectional view of the va oriz'ing and-com dcnsingcolnmn of the 'sti l.

Sim arf' numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

The cooking tank 1 is normally closed from communication with the atmosphere and is provided with a garbage inlet 2 in its l,'har1ng a removable cover through top \ra which green garbage is admitted from a suitable source of supply; and a tankage outlet in its lower end, having a removable door. Steam entering the bottom of the tank through a steam pipes controlled by .a suitable va re 5, passes through a fitting 6 into the tank and through the garbage therein, and escapes from a dome 7 in tl ie'upper end of the tank through a steam pipe 8 controlled by a valve. 9, to the vaporizing column 10 of the still.

i The greaselor oil which is carried in suspension in the steam after passing through thecooking tank, is separated therefrom and the other volatile bodies carried thereby, b 'mcans of a grease separator 11, of wel known construction, and discharged into a; suitable grease reservoir (not shown), said separator )reierably being of the ty e in which bafl'l casing to collect oil or grease from the steam pa ssing therethrough.

When the garbage has been thoroughly cooked, the valves 5 and 9 in the steam.

pipes are closed, and air undera. pressure preferably of from one hundred to one hundred fifty poundsadmitted into the tank through an air pipe 12 near the upper end thereof, which is controlled by a suitable valve 13, compresses the cooked garbage and forces the heated %lll)ilg water from the tank through the tting'tl and a 'pipe 14, controlled by a valve 15, into the cooling tank 16.

F roin the cooling tank the garbage watgnj gli is conducted by means of a pipe 17, having a drain spigot '18 and a controlling valve 19 therein, to the fermenting ap' Mates 20., which is preferably of the type s own in my :opend ng application, Serial No. 826,48?!

and tl garbage water or mash converte into wort; the excess acid in the srbage water bein neutralized by adding line or other alkai, before yeasting. Pref'rabl the dome 7 ofthe cooking tank s'provide 106 with a ressure page 21 and safety valve 22. By tof use 0 compressed an, as dlstlnguish gl from steam, which 1s commonly .used, n ot onl'yis the pressing ofthe garbage for so crating, the water-therefrom 'accom- 110.

plishe, in s more 'econ qmical manner, but

the danger attending ahi'gl steam pressure 7 e plates are arranged'witiin a. 80

is greatly diminished, and the facility with which the cooking tank may be rec iarged increased, the air serving to cool the tank after the cooking operation.

The garbage water passing through the cooling tank 16, which is preferably ;con slructed in substantially the same manner as the va mriraing column of thestill illustrated,

.by means of a pipel-l controlled by .a valve 25, the air escaping from a dome 26 in' the top of the tank through a' pipe 27, which is controlled by'a valve 28, into the lower end' of a wort prcheatmg' tank 29; the dome 36 being prov-alcd with a pressure gage L and safety valve 22. As the heated air escapes from the cooling tank, the grease or oil carried thereby is separated therefrom by means of a grease separator 11 and discharges into a suitable grease reservoir (not shown). V v

The heated air entering the bottom of the preheating. tank which is preferably of the same construction as the cooling tank 1.0, is drawnupward therein through the cold wort which is passing therethrough on its way from the fermenting tank to the still, out through the dome 30 and pipe 31 into the pump 23, and again circulated through the tanks; the. hurt from the fermenting tank being admitted into the upper end of the preheating tank'through a pipe 32 con trolled by n. ralve 33, and discharged by gravity through a pipe 3-l controlled by a valve 35, and having a drain spigot 36 therein, into the st ll for distillation. If desired, a cooling coil 37 may be inserted in the cold air line between the pump and the cooling tank. a

It will thus be seen that by providing a closed circuit for the air'passing through the cooling and preheating.tanks, not only is the air kept in a strictly sterile condition, but the heat imparted thereto by the heated garbage water is imparted to tbec'old wort on its way tothc still, and uponlearing the preheating tank is in condition for again cooling the garbage water before it is discharged into the tormenting tanks; thooporation being automatic,

lly the cons-lructim'i of the cooling: and preheating tanks illustrated; the ascending air comes into contact with all parts of the descvullina liquid, the roti'lrdation ol" the -vapor in its upward course through the seroral clnnnbers being of sulliciont length of time to permit the interchange of heat For thoroughly cooling and heating the ku unls In the respective'taiiks. The liquids liquid in the cooling above the upper cuts in the tanks being discharged by gravity, the

rate of How through the pipes 1'? and Bl into" the fermenting tank and still respectively, is lletcl'lllllltd by the head of the i and preheating tanks oi the pipes, which is varied by increasing or decreasing the height of said pipes.

The cooling tank and prcluaiting tank are each preferably provided with-a sight glass 3S and 38 near their upper ends to indicate the height of the liquid therein.

In Fig. 2, Ihave illustrated a modified form of construction for the cooling and preheating ta-nks, in which the tank is formed f or cast in a plurality of sections 31), ill and ll-i having rim flanges. ill), and ll thereon by means of which they are bolted together, the intermediate section it), of which one or'inorc may be employed, being open at each end and baring a partition 40 formed integral therewith 'lwtwvou its vuds. 'lhe'nppercud of the suction 39 has a vlosrd end wall 39? and a dorm--42 l ormcd integral iherewith, aud the lowvl end-of the section ll closed by an end wall ll"; partitions l and-ll being provided between tho llangrcs of the adjacent sections to form chamlnu's 39, 0" and -l0'-" and ii" communicating with each other by means: of the tubes l. ll) and ll fornmd iutcgral'with the sufll'ill partitiona;

'lhostcaui carries with it from the tank 1 through the pipe into the vaporizing rollllllll 10 of the still, curtain ol"- the volatile bodies from the ,Qarl'mgc; to which arc added the volatile bodies in the wort which is delivcrcd from the preheating tank 2'!) lhrongh the pipe EH into the vaporizing column 10 olftho still; aftrr which'all the volatile bodies thus combined. pass through the pipe 45 into the condensing column 10" of the stilhwhereinthe alcohol and otlmrrolatile bodicsare conrleased iuthc mania-r set forth in said co-pcmhng'applioaliod Serial No; 826,483.

The tankagc remaining in the cooking tank 1 after the separation of the garbage water therefrom, is removed,- dried, milled air blast, the dried tanka'ge being separated into four parts, viz: coarse material, such as bones, metals, tins, rags, ctog uiuvral substances such as sand, gravel, hrolwngluss, crockery, etc, which is practically waste;

aninial niattcr, such asln'oken'hono and meat products; and vegetable malftcr, such as dry fru1t,.vegetablc and grain products.

The waste matter in the coarsc material;

is readily separated out, and the values rccovered; the animal matter .lS mixed with evaporated spent wash from the still :for use.

as i'ced'or fertilizer; and the vegetable amtlac tel converted into glucose. Glucose or any other saccharine matter, as for instance, molasses, is then added to the garbage water in order to support fermentation, the en zynls formed by the fermentation of the saccharinematter acting to convert the limited amount of starch in the garbage water into sugar; it being a Well known fact that before fermentation the starch must be con vertcd into sugar, which is usually accomplished by the 'use of malt. lioweven'this use of malt is rendered unnecessary for the reason that when the fermentation of a mixed mash takes place in an anaerobic man- 5 .,,n'er, as in the present invention the adverse germs of fermentation are excluded, and the enzanns formed by the fermentation of the saccharine matter are thus permitted to continue to act. without opposition.

It will be evident that alcohol is thus ob train d from the garbage from three ditlcrent sources or stages of the reduction, viz: by the condensation of the steam from the cooking tank, which coptains alcohol formed by the spontantious fermentation of the garbage before reduction; by fermentingand distilling the garbage water; and by convertingithe starch and cellulose of the vegetable matter which has beenseparatcd from the tankage, into glucose, and fermenting and distilling the same.

When the tankagelhas been removed from the cooking tank, the'tank may be immediately recharged, the valves?) and '9 opened,

'. 5 the. garbage cooked, and the various steps in the process carried out, as above set forth.

\Vhenit is desired to make the operation continuous, several. cooking tanks should be employed in order to provide a continuous supplyv of garbage water-to the fermenting apparatus, and a continuous supply of steam to the still. Otherwise, it is necessary to provide a. source of supply ofstea'm for the still direct from the boiler, for the reason that during the recharging, of the cooking sarily discontinued.

I claim: v

1. The method of manufacturing alcohol tank. the flow of steam to the still isnece's from garbage, consisting "in cooking the ga'rbagmin a closed tank by forcing steam therethmugh, separating the grease from the steam, and condensing the alcohol carried bin the steam, v

2. The method of mannfactnrin alcohol from garba e, consisting, incoming" the" garbage by oreing steam therethrough and pressing the garbage water therefrom, fermenting the garbage water or mash, and di'stillihg the Wort; i v

3. The method of manufac'ti'u'ing alcohol from garba 'e'," consistin in cooking thegarbage an pressing tie garbage water therefrom, mechanically separating vthe grease from. the garbage water, fermenting the garbage water or mash, and distilling the, wort 1 The method of manufacturing alcohol from garbage. consisting in cooking the garbage and pressing the water therefrom, drying the tankagc. separating the vegetable matter from the tankage, converling' the vegetable matter into glucose. fermenting the glucose, and distilling olfthe alcohol.

' The method of nnumfacturilnz alcohol from garbage, consisting in cooking the garbage in a closed tankby forcing steam therethrough, separating the grease from the steam and condensing the alcohols carried b the steam; in pressing the garbage water from the cooked garbage or tankage, separating the grease from the garbage water. fernu-nting the garbage water or mash, and distilling the wort; and in drying the tankage, separating, the vegetable matter from the tankzige, convertin the vegetable matter into glucose, fermenting; the glucose with the. wort, and distilling oil the alcohol.

(3 The method of iniuiufacturing alcohol from garbage. consisting, in cooking the garbage in a closed tank by forcing steam therethrtmgh, separatiing; the grease from the steam and condensing the alcohols carried by the steam: in pressi-lrL the garbage water from the cooked garbage or tankage, separating the grease from the garbage watercfermenting the garbage water or mash, and-distilling the worth) the steam from the cooking tank; and in devingtlm tankage, separating, the vegetablematter from the tankage, converting, the'vegetable matter into glucose, and fermenting and distilling the glucose with the garbage water.

7. Themethod of manufacturingalcohol from garbage consisting in cooking the garbage in a closed tank bv forcing steam therethrough, separating t'e'grease from the steam and condensing the alcohols carried by the steam; in compressing thelgarbn n water from the cooked arba'exor 4 h tan-huge, separating the grease from the garbage water, neutralizing the. excess acidsfm the garbage water, fermenting the garbage Wat-er or mash, and distilling the wort by the steam from the cooking tank; and n drying the tankage, separatingthe vegetable matter from the tankage, converting the vegetable matter into glucose, neutralizing the excess acids in the glucose, and-fermenting and distilling the glucose with the gar bagc water l v 8. The method of manufacturing alcohol from garbage-includin ,the steps o cooking the garbage by orcing steam there, through, pressing the garbage water from the cooked garbagmfermentini the garbage water, and condensing the almhols carried by thesteam together with the-alcohols 1n vthe fermented garbage water or port.

9. The method of manufacturing alcohol from garbage, consisting in cooking the garbage in a clostd tank by forcing 'stcam 'thcrcthrongh, separating the grease from the steam and condensing th'c alcohols carried by the steam; and in pressing the garbagc u'atcr from the cooked garbage or tankagc, separating the grease from the garbage \ratcr, fermenting the garbage water orinash. and distilling the wort.

10. The method of manufacturing alcohol from garbage. consisting in cooking the ginhuge in a closci'l tank by forcing steam there through, separating the grease from the steam, and conileusi ng the alcohols carried by the steam; in pressing the garbage water ha rc and pressing the garbage a'atcr thcrcfrom into acooling tank, circulating a current of air through the garbage water in tha lank to cool it and through a separator to suparatc the grease therefrom. conductin the garbage watcr into a fermenting apparatus to be converted into wort, conducting the wort through a preheating tank and circulating a current of heated air through the wort in the prchcating tank to heat 1t, and condacting, the wort to a still to be distillcdl a a 13. The anaiirobic method of manufacturing alcohol from garbagc, consisting in cooking the garbage iii a closed tank, and pressing the garhagawater therefrom; and in cooling, fermenting and (listilhng thc garbage watcr;

3 1-l."lhc anarrobic method ,ofinanufacturin g alcohol from garbage, cousistmg'n cooking the garbage by forcing, steam there'- through, and condensing the alcohols carried llu-rcbv' and'in n'csSin -tho "arba e'u'atcr a l n h from the garbage, and cooling, lcrnicnting and distilling-tho garbage water.

15.,"lh0 method of mannfmzturing alcohol from garbage, consisting in cooking the garbago-in a closcdtank, prcssing the garbage watcrfroiu fthc garbage by means at coin-- prcsszcd air, and in cooling, fermenting and distilling tho-garbage water.

1.6. The nnilhod of;manufacturing alcohol from garbage consisting in cooking the garbagc and-pressing the garbage water thcrcfrom, conducting the garbage water from the cooking tank through a cooling tank intoa fermenting,apparatus to'be com'ertcd into wort, comlucting the wort from the formenting apparatus through a" preheating tank intoa still to be distilled, and circnlatingta' current of air throu%h the heated garhagc water on its way to t is fermenting apparatus to-cool it, and through the cold wort on its \vaylo the still to heatit.

17.' An apparatus for theinannfactnrc of alcohol from garbage, includinga cooking tank, cooling tank, fermenting apparatus, preheating tank, and still, connected togather in series; "and means for pressing the water from: the garbage in the cooking tank,-

said cooling tank dischar ing into the farmenting apparatus, the ermenting-apparatus int-o theprcheatin tank, and the prehcatin tank into the sti l. I a

. 18. l n apparatus-for tho'nianufacture of alcohol from garbage, including one or more cooking tanks, a. cooling tank, fermenting apparatus,"and still, connected together;-

and means for pressing the garbage water from the cooked garba e into the cooling tank. said cooling tank ischarging into the fermenting apparatus, and the. fermenting apparatus into the still;

19. An apparatus-for the manufacture of alcohol from garbage including a. cooking tank, cooling tank, fermenting tank, and

still connected together, means for prcssinfi the garbage \vater from the cooking tan into' the cooling tank, and means for-separating the grease from the garbage water on its wayto the fermenting tank'and stilt,

.20. .-\n-apparatus foiithe fianu'facture of alcohol from garbage including acookinp tank having a steam inlet and outlet, a stil and a steamn'ay loading from theoutlet of tho cooking. tank to theslill. 21. An apparatus for the manufacture of alcohol frourgai'bage including a cooking tank, having a steam inlet and outlet, a still,

a stoamway leading from the out-letof the tank to the still, and a grease se aratorin said steamway for separating he re use llO from the steam on its way-to the sti lfor distillation. I

22. An apparatus for the manufacture of alcohol from garbage, including a cooking tank, cooling tank, fermenting apparatus,

preheating tank and still connccted together m acrics, means for prcssingthe water'm the cooked garbage from the cooking t'zink and forcing it into thee ooling tank-said cooling tank discharging into the-fermenting tank,.

the i'crmcnting tank into the prchcntin tank, and the preheating tank do the Stllf, and means for circulating a; current of air through the cooling tankand. preheating tank to cool and heat the liquids in the respective tanks. 7 a

23. An apparatus for the manufacture of alcohol from garbage, includinga cooking tank, cooling tank ferment ingwatulpparatus, through the cooling tank and preheating 10 preheating tank ana still oonnec together tank to cool and heat the liquids in the re- 1n series, means for presging the water 111 sfiective tanks, and means for separating the garbage from the cookmg tank and few 1; e grease from the current of air.

.. ing it into the cooling tank, said cooling FRANK E YOUNG tank discharging into the fermenting tank, the fermentmg tank into the preheetin Witnesses:

tank, and the preheeting tank into the stil Lumen M. Conny, "meen'a for circulatmg a, current of air EARL C. OAnLson. 

